Congress asks SC to junk Corona petition to stop impeach trial

MANILA, Philippines – Congress has asked the Supreme Court to junk the petition of Chief Justice Renato Corona seeking to stop the impeachment proceeding against him and the presentation of evidence pertaining to his bank deposits, according to a statement issued by the Prosecution.

The Senate and the House of Representatives said they filed their comments “without submitting themselves to the jurisdiction of the Honorable Supreme Court and without conceding the constitutional and exclusive power of the House to initiate all cases of impeachment and of Senate to try and decide all cases of impeachment,” it said.

The two houses of Congress also moved for the dismissal of six other petitions questioning the constitutionality of the Articles of Impeachment, as well as the petition of Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) to enjoin the Senate from compelling its representative to testify and to bring documents related to the chief magistrate’s foreign currency accounts.

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The prosecution said that the petitions filed against them were “purely political in character which may be decided or resolved only by the Senate and the House.”

Both chambers, which was represented by the Office of the Solicitor General, said in their consolidated comments that the impeachment process was not considered in the Constitution of 1987 as subject to judicial review, according to the prosecution.

The prosecution cited two cases– Francisco v. The House of Representatives and Guttierez v. The House of Representatives – that were lodged before the Supreme Court, saying, “Despite its expanded certiorari jurisdiction, it cannot take cognizance of purely political questions.”